Bluffton Town Council: Allow live, outdoor music every day with noise restrictions

Proposed ordinance receives preliminary approval from panel

Supporters of live, outdoor music in Old Town Bluffton have earned a victory.

Bluffton Town Council gave preliminary approval Tuesday night to a proposed noise ordinance that would permit such entertainment seven days a week, but would also define how loud music can be played and the distance from which it should measured.

Under the proposal, which passed on first reading by a 3-2 vote, outdoor entertainment — both live and recorded — would be permitted daily from noon to 10 p.m. The volume of music could be no louder than 60 decibels when measured 250 feet from the source, and police would have the authority to order establishments to lower noise levels if they deem it too loud.

Violators would be subject to a fine of up to $500 or 30 days in jail.

Anyone wishing to have outdoor live entertainment outside of the stipulated times would have to apply for a special events permit and would be limited to six per year.

The proposed ordinance would be a departure from the town's current noise ordinance, which prohibits amplified outdoor noise after 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and after midnight on weekends, but has no definitive way of determining whether the noise is too loud, critics have said.

Council, however, elected not to impose stricter limitations proposed by town staff that would have allowed live music just three nights a week — Thursday through Saturday — while noise from a radio, stereo or television would have been permitted every night under the specified times.

"If we're going to allow music anyway, I don't see the difference between recorded and live; noise is noise," councilman Ted Huffman said. "There's no way to micromanage this without starting a baseline, and as long as we maintain the decibel level and the distance we measure from, that's a good baseline to start with."

The issue of noise in Old Town has been the subject of intense debate for the last several months. Many residents living in close proximity to restaurants and bars along Calhoun Street have complained that late-night noise — coming from amplified music and animated crowds — is excessive. Others have said such music helps businesses generate more revenue, provides a living for local musicians and promotes "the Bluffton state of mind" by allowing families to enjoy the entertainment on a daily basis.

A handful of people from the latter group left Tuesday's meeting pleased.

"We finally have a compromise," said Matt Jording, co-owner of the Old Town Dispensary on Calhoun Street, which has received the brunt of the noise complaints. "It's not practical to shut out the live entertainment completely."

Jording and co-owner Thomas Viljac have attempted to address the complaints in recent months. They built a sound-insulated stage on the tavern's outdoor patio to muffle sound and installed volume-control software in their speakers, which can only be turned up by the sound company that installed it.

"When we opened, we definitely had noise issues," Jording said, "but we've gone above and beyond to address those concerns. We're glad there's consistency to this. It's not effective to say you can do something one day, but not the next."

Many area residents, though, complained the acceptable volume level of 60 decibels — similar to conversation in a crowded restaurant — council agreed to and the distance from which it will be measured are too much.

Harper Finucan, whose house on Lawrence Street is located directly behind the Old Town Dispensary, said he is well within the 250-foot range and suggested using 50 decibels, approximately half the volume of 60 decibels, as an appropriate level.

"My porch is probably about 100 feet from the Dispensary," Finucan said. "Are we to suffer the consequences of not being outside 250?"

Council member Karen Lavery, who joined councilman Fred Hamilton in dissenting, agreed with Finucan.

"If we're going to have music seven days a week, we should at least drop the decibel level down to 45 and the distance to 150 feet," Lavery said. "We've got to do something to help those people on Calhoun and Lawrence streets who are catching the brunt of the noise out."

Council will take a final vote on the ordinance at its April 8 meeting.

In other business, council:

• Voted to ban large trucks — not including personal pickups, passenger vans and church, school or public buses — from traveling through Old Town without official business there. The specified routes include S.C. 46 (May River and Bluffton roads) between S.C. 170 (Okatie Highway) and Bluffton Parkway, State Road 120 (Bruin Road) and State Road 13 and 31 (Bridge Street). Instead, traffic will be pushed out to wider roads such as S.C. 170, U.S. 278 and Bluffton and Buckwalter parkways in an effort to improve pedestrian safety in the historic district.

• Gave preliminary approval to code changes that make the town's Planning Commission the sole reviewer of architectural designs for development throughout the town. The changes also enhance the experience and expertise requirements to serve on the town's Historic Preservation Commission, allow people living outside Old Town to serve on the HPC and create an HPC subcommittee to streamline the application review process.

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I didn't see anything wrong with limiting live (loud) music Thurs thru Saturday. In fact, I would have made it Fri thru Sat.
I know if I lived in downtown Bluffton and this was happening in my back yard, I'd be VERY upset.

What they should have done was limit loud music (amplified) to Fri and Sat nights and then allowed acoustic (unplugged) music the rest of the week.
That would have been a good compromise.

There are 4 gas stations on 46 now, and all of them have distributors for their supplies, are you going to ban them? Messex One Stop does yearly inspections on companies that have fleet trucks, are you going to hinder this businesses yearly inspections? Messex One Stop also has fuel accounts are you going to ban trucks so they cannot run fuel accounts?

There is 3 automotive businesses in The Town of Bluffton that use tow trucks to bring in business, are you going to ban tow trucks?

The idea of banning trucks on 46 is unfathomable with all of the new restaurants in the Promenade and on Calhoun street that need supplies as well. The Town Council needs to think about the needs of these businesses and stop this nonsense.

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